The great war
by GoddessGodOfAllWolves
Summary: the story follows the life of sergeant Balto James and his unit of soldiers along with a young, new guy fresh off the boat from basic training as they all struggle to survive in the trenches of world war one. graphic descriptions of war, violence, blood, gore and foul language. be warned, this story may cause flashbacks for those who have PTSD that served in the armed forces.


_**BALTO'S POV**_

I was laying on my cot relaxing while writing to Jenna, when a new guy walked into our dugout. I looked up at him. He was a young kid. "Hey Private, you lost?" I asked. He snapped to attention and saluted me and said " I was looking for Sergeant Balto James?" I smiled a bit and said "At ease private. You've found Sergeant Balto James. That's me." He walked a little closer and nervously said "Private Nikki Smith. I was told to report to you as my new commanding officer." I nodded and said "Grab the empty bunk." He nodded and set about unpacking his stuff.

I returned to my writing and Nikki kept nervously flicking his tail around. "Hey Nikki right?" he nodded and I said "Relax kid. You're making me nervous." just then a small artillery shell went off about a hundred feet away. Nikki dove to the ground under his cot and the rest of us in the dugout all laughed and said "Hey kid relax. The Germans will fire randomly throughout the day and night." He looked at me like I was crazy and asked "Permission to speak freely?" I nodded and said "Go ahead." "How the fuck do you not worry about the artillery fire?" I chuckled and dad said "Unless the shells start coming fast and loud, don't worry." He was visibly shaking, so I reached into my breast pocket, took out my pack of smokes, and offered him one.

He shakily took one before I grabbed one myself and light both of ours. I took a slow drag off mine and asked "So where you from Nikki?" he coughed a bit on the cigarette and said "Juno Alaska." I smiled and said, "Hey guys, we have another city boy!" this caused a good round of laughter and all the guys passed me a pack of smokes. Nikki got confused and he asked "What's so funny." I chuckled and took another puff of my smoke and said "let me guess, you saw the recruiting poster and you thought 'this should be easy. I'll go over there, kill a few bad guys, get some medals and go home a hero.'" he nervously nodded and I chuckled and said "I've lost count count of how many of you kids have come and gone from here with that same idea."

He rubbed the back of his neck and took another shakey puff of his smoke. I set my stuff down and stood up and said "Well let me introduce you to the rest of the gang. Over there on the corner cot we have Marty "Mooch" stevens, on the middle cot, we have Kevin "Killtag" Lynch, next we have Leo "Star" Jones, then there's Steven "Salty" Higgins." He nodded and I asked "You done any killing or combat?" he shook his head and said "No, sir." "What about shooting?" "Only in Basic Training sir." I rolled my eyes and said "First off, you don't need to call me sir when it's just us. Second, just do as we say and you'll survive this war." He nodded and I dropped my smoke and stomped it out.

Just then Mooch piped up and asked "Hey War Daddy, how long have we been here now?" I paused and thought and said "Almost two years." Nikki asked "How did you all get your nicknames?" I smiled and dad said "Well Mooch over there, got his nickname because he's always trying trying to mooch off some of our rations. Killtag got his because he somehow always manages to kill an enemy by shooting through their tags. Salty just really likes salt. Star there has a star tattoo."

He nodded and asked "What about you? Why do they call you War Daddy?" I looked up at him and said "I've been in this war since the start of it, and I'm sort of like a father to these guys."

Then Captain Micheal "Steele" Mitchel walked in and we all stood to attention and he said "Stand to boys!" we all quickly grabbed our helmets and equipment and ran out. I stood in line with everyone else and Nikki nervously stood beside me and I said "Listen to me carefully. Chamber a round." He nervously cycled the action on his Lee Enfield. "Good. Keep the safety on and wait for the command."

We stood there for about ten minutes and we suddenly heard "Gas! Gas! Gas!" I looked closer and saw a yellow cloud rolling closer to us across no man's land. I quickly strapped my gas mask on and shouted as I put my mask on "Get your gas masks on now! Mustard Gas!" I tightened my straps and looked at Nikki and asked "Make sure you tighten your straps really tight. You breathe this stuff, your dead." He was nervously fumbling with the straps, so I reached over, gave a good tug on all the straps and said "Your good now watch for an attack."

Once we heard the all clear, I took my mask off and saw the Germans starting to approach. "Nikki, get ready. Take your safety off and stay by my side."

He nodded and I said "Take a deep breath, and calm yourself. Pick your shots." then we heard "Fix Bayonets!" I repeated the order for my area and one our bayonets were on, I took careful aim and then we heard heard the first shot from the germans. Then we started returning fire. I drilled off four rounds and I saw a grenade landed in our trench. "Grenade!" I quickly grabbed it and threw it back at them before continuing continuing to shoot.

Then our Vickers opened up and began mowing them down as they began running at us. I let out a battle cry and then the whistle blew for us to go over the top. I climbed out of the trench and ran at them. I continued shooting until I ran out of ammo.

I quickly took my bayonet off my rifle before slinging my rifle over my shoulder and grabbed my pistol. Then the first hun jumped into our trench and I stabbed him as we quickly came to trench warfare.

I heard Nikki scream and I turned, saw him struggling with a german. I ran up behind them, ran the German through the neck, and threw him aside and I helped Nikki up. I turned and aimed at a German soldier, and as soon as he saw me, he dropped his rifle, threw his hands up and send screamed "Nein!" I nodded and he got got on got on his knees as I continued fighting.

Once we fended off the attack, we began rounding up prisoners. Once that was done, I began helping with moving moving the wounded to the trucks for evac.

Then I heard it. The high pitched whistle of of an in bound artillery shell. I screamed as loud as I could "Take cover! Artillery!" I then grabbed Nikki and a prisoner beside us and pushed them into the nearest dugout. Then the shells started landing all around us. I looked up and for the first time, I got a good look at a living, breathing German soldier. He was only seventeen at most and grubby and and he looked just as scared as we did.

Nikki had his gun level with him and the German said in broken English "Please… no shoot… me family." He then slowly reached into his breast pocket and I grabbed his hand and reached in and pulled out pictures. He sniffed and said "Please no shoot. Me family." Nikki was shaking and I reached over and slowly lowered his rifle and he set it down am I reached asked "You smoke?" I then took out my smokes and offered him one.

He very nervously took nervously took one. I offered one too Nikki and he took one before I grabbed my lighter and lit our smokes. The shells continued coming in in fast in fast, hot, and loud all around us. A couple more of my team, Humphrey "Headshot" Hutchinson, and Garth "Prettyboy" Floyd, dove into our dugouts.

They both immediately took aim and I said in a firm voice "Lower your weapons now! That is an order. He is a Prisoner of war and he is my prisoner so I will decide how he is treated and you you will obey my orders or you will be court martialed." They slowly lowered their guns and Nikki visibly relaxed. I offered them a smoke each and light them and I said "Garth, Humphrey, meet the new kid Nikki Smith. Nikki smith, allow me to introduce you to the two most unique soldiers in my unit. On the right, we have Garth "Prettyboy" Floyd. There isn't one girl in all of Europe that has refused to spend a a night with him. And on the left, we have Humphrey "Headshot" Hutchinson. There isn't an enemy soldier alive who doesn't fear the sound of Humphrey and his Mosin Nagant getting another German number. You need a target dead, but he's a mile and a half away, Humphrey here can hit them with his first shot guaranteed."

Nikki nodded and they shook hands and humphrey said with a chuckle "So this is the sorry replacement for Deadeye." Nikki looked a bit hurt and confused so I said as I laid down on a bunk and motioned for the others to do the same, including the prisoner. "Nikki, Humphrey doesn't really mean that, he's still just upset that a german got Kelly "Deadeye" O'riley." He nodded and I asked in German "What's your name kid?" he looked up at me surprised at took another puff of his smoke. He stood to attention and said in English "Private Karl Grubbs." I returned the salute and said "At ease." He slowly sat down and I said "You speak english very well for a german." He nodded and said "It has always been my dream to move to America."

We all smiled a bit and Nikki asked "Why are we being so nice to him? He's the enemy." I turned to him and gave him an ice cold glare and said "We are being nice to him because he is a canine, and a young man drafted into this hell they call war. If you weren't the new kid, then talking like that would have earned you a rifle butt to your gut boy. Remember, we may all be trying to kill each other, but at the end of the day, we are all canine."

Nikki hung his head low and said "I'm sorry Sir." I nodded and turned back to Private Grubbs and asked "What part of america?" he looked at me with a flash of hope and passion in his eyes and said "I want to move to Anchorage Alaska, and build a log house in the bush and explore the beautiful wilderness there." I smiled and said "Well maybe one day, if we survive this war, then we may meet again possibly." He nodded and asked "Are you from Alaska?" I nodded and said "A small fishing village in the northwestern part of Alaska called Nome."

He nodded and just then, an artillery shell went off right in front of the entrance and sent in a long piece of barbed wire along with a screaming guy. We all rushed to our feet and ran over to the guy who I couldn't recognize because of the blood all over his face. Private Grubbs said "I'm a doctor! Let me help!" he then pulled his belt off and said "Hold his bleeding arm still!" he then looped his belt around our guys arm that was missing a hand and he pulled the belt as tight as he could and began checking for other injuries. "Cut that back pack off him! He can't breathe!" I quickly pulled the bag off his back and tossed it aside. The guy grabbed my shirt and pulled me close and coughed out in a British accent "Don't leave me." I took his left hand in mine and said "Don't worry Captain, we aren't leaving you behind. Your gonna be okay, just look at me and talk to me. What's your name?" he screamed in pain as Private Grubbs accidentally touched the stump where his right hand should have been before he seethed "Micheal."

I looked at him and finally got a good look at his eyes. I only knew one person with eyes that Icy cold, pale blue, Captain Micheal "Steele" Mitchel. Private Grubbs said, "We need to keep pressure on his bleeding stump to save him. Give me a clean shirt now!" I reached into my pack and handed him one and he wrapped it around the stump and he asked "Micheal, do you believe in Jesus Chirst?" he nodded and Private Grubbs took Steele's hand from mine and held it and said "We shall pray together," he then took out his cross and held it in his right hand and rested it on Steele's chest and began praying with him.

When they were done, Steele was breathing slower and I asked "How do you feel?" he shivered and said "cold and in pain." I took my jacket off and laid that over his chest and he asked "Can you write my wife for me please?" I nodded and took out my note book and flipped to a fresh page and he began "My dearest Wife Dixie, I love you so much, but I fear I may not live to see your face ever again. I have been badly wounded and I am writing you for possibly the last time. I want you to not mourn my death if I do not survive. I want you to go on, and find a new husband to raise our son with. My dear boy Stephan, I am so proud of the strong young man you have already become. Know that Daddy loves you and will always look out for you. If Daddy doesn't make it home, Your the man of the house, and I want you to look after mommy and take good care of her. I love you both and I will always be watching over you."

He then coughed and asked "Water?" I nodded and unscrewed my canteen and held it to his lips and gave him a drink. I looked over at Private Grubbs and asked "What are his chances?" he paused for a moment, pondering the odds and said "Hard to tell… We stopped his bleeding from the outside, but the wound was very dirty and he has a lot of broken bones. If the artillery stops soon, and we get him to proper medical attention, then he has a good chance, but the longer we wait, the less of a chance he has." I nodded.

Then the shells suddenly stopped. I looked outside and saw that the shrapnel was settling down. "pretty boy, headshot, your with me, Nikki, take the prisoner back to the others. That is an order." He nodded and I threw Steele over my shoulder and began running down the trenches to the med evac.

I dodged other soldiers as they began emerging from their dugouts as I ran farther and farther into the rear trenches, until a rogue length of barbed wire tripped me up, and I fell and Steele went flying from my shoulders. I swore, and untangled my legs from the barbed wire and got back up and picked Steele up as he coughed out "Just leave me… I'm dying… I'm only going to slow you down." I grunted as I put him back over my shoulders and said "With all do respect sir, I cannot obey that order. We leave no man behind." I then made it to the med evac and handed Steele off to the medics.

I walked back to the front lines and walked into my trench and took my helmet off and laid down on my bunk and looked over at Nikki who was curled up in the fetal position, rocking back and forth on his Bunk. "Hell of a first day, hey Nikki?" I said, trying to lighten the mood. He didn't respond and just kept rocking back and forth.I felt sorry for him because we all knew what he was going through.

Just then the daily rum rations came through and I poured my ration into Nikki's cup and said "Here, drink this, it will help." He took it and downed the whole thing in one quick swig. He coughed and said "I killed people today Sir. I can see their faces right now. Young men… I'm not even sure you can even call them men with how young they look." I sighed and sat down beside him and offered him a smoke and he took it and took a long drag off it. "Did you see their bodies hit the ground?" he shook his head. "Then you don't know for sure if you killed them. Maybe you just wounded them and they are still alive right now, getting fixed up are their medical centers and getting ready to be shipped back home to their families."

He looked at me with panic in his eyes and asked "Are you sure?" "If you didn't see their bodies drop, you didn't kill them. Simple as that." he looked up at me and asked "how do you live with yourself knowing you looked someone in the eye, and took their life?" I sighed and said "there's only two things you can do. You can either let that feeling take over you, and let it linger over for the rest of your life and make you miserable. Or you can take that feeling, and drive it from your mind." he slowly nodded and said "I don't know how many people i killed today." I cut him off and said as i pulled out my flask and took a drink "do yourself a favour and stop counting right now. Helps lighten the burden."


End file.
